The due statement came from the head of the International Chess Federation, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, while summing up the results of the 42nd World Chess Olympiad held in the capital of Azerbaijan, the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza reports.

"Considering the results of the Olympiad held from September 1 to 13 in Baku, I must say that it was the best in FIDE's history, taking in account its organization and both the number of participants and quality of their training. In the days of the 42nd World Chess Olympiad, the FIDE General Assembly took place, it was attended by 182 countries, which is a record. The number of men's and women's teams at the Olympiad was also record. There were more than 800 international masters, including two world champions – Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen and the captain of the Chinese women's team, Hou Yifan. The Baku Olympiad broke all the records," he stressed.

It is also important that there were no admonitions from FIDE about the organisation of the Olympiad. "Let me remind you that at the 41st World Chess Olympiad in Tromsø there have been complaints about the huge distance of 90 km between the tournament hall and place of residence. In Baku both the judges and the players were in walking distance from the venue of the tournament. The Chess Federation of Azerbaijan and the organizing committee met all the requirements. The qualitative level of chess games was also very high," Kirsan Ilyumzhinov noted.

"We are honored that the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the opening ceremony, visited the Games and made the first move instead of the representative of the Russian women's team, the world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk," the head of FIDE added.

News.Az